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Moon Maid
First Appearance: (partial) December 31st, 1963 (full) January 5th, 1964. Mood Maid (Real Name: Mysta) first was seen on earth after she crash landed in her ship. She was found wearing sleeveless and strapless black leotard that was unsuitablke for the col weather. Dick Tracy and Diet Smith were immediately drawn to the scene of the crash, followed by photographers. Moon Maid was at first very withdrawn, saying not a word, but quickly began displaying her superhuman abilities, such as drastically changing her body temperature from 18 degrees above zero to 200 degrees. She also could shoot destructive energy from her hands, causing objects to explode. She did not want her picture taken and used her powers to render nearby cameras useless. Moon Maid's powers also disrupted global communications. This caused some anxiety in Washington DC which Diet Smith helped to alleviate. Mood Maid was placed into protective custody, but she escaped to frolic in the snow, which she found very enjoyable. She came across a pregnant woman nearly frozen to death in the snow, who was about to go into labor. Moon Maid used her powers to keep the mother and her unborn child warm and she helped deliver the baby. This exhausted her, but the three of them (Moon Maid, mother and baby) were soon found by Tracy and Smith in the Space Coupe. They were taken to the hospital, Moon Maid refused to stay in the warm bed, preferring to sit near an open window where the sun could recharge her spent powers in spite of the cold. After Moon Maid recovered, Lizz and Junior threw her a party at Lizz's place, inviting some of Junior's friends who were all closer to her age. She burned the dress that they gave her and this angered the guests, as she went into Lizz's room upstairs. After admiring Lizz's dresses, she started to sob on the bed, realizing that she would never be like other Earth kids. She tried desperately to rip out her horns so that she wouldn't be different anymore, but was stopped by Lizz, commenting on how beautiful her horns were. Lizz gave Moon Maid one of her hats and cut little holes in the brim so that her horns would fit through. Lizz and Junior took Moon Maid to a clothing shop to get her a frock to match her hat. After Junior complimented how beautiful she looked, Moon Maid kissed him, casuing Junior to swoon. Junior began to see more and more of Moon Maid in the next few days and they began to fall in love with each other. When Tracy and Diet convinced her she needed to go back to the moon, Moon Maid sadly got on board the ship, but Junior begged her not to go. He declared his love to her and with tears of joy the two embraced and kissed. Tracy tried to convince Junior that he shouldn't be with Moon Maid because of how different she was and how radical and dangerous her powers were. This upset Junior. He and Moon Maid snuck out that night and stole the space coupe, intending to return it after making a trip to the moon. Upon discovering this, Tracy felt extremely guilty, saying that his actions had driven Junior away "as surely as if I had used a club". Tracy and Diet Smith followed Moon Maid and Junior back to the moon. Moon Maid had been showing Junior Moon Valley and explaining various aspects of her home. When Tracy and Smith arrived, they originally welcomed by Moon Maid's parents, the Moon Governor and his wife, though this was revealed to be a ruse. Moon Maid's trip to Earth and back had been a plot to lure Diet Smith's Space Coupes to the moon, which lacked the vital element titanium necessary to build space-travelling vessels. Moon Maid seemed to be complicit in her father's scheme, and a heartbroken Junior was imprisoned along with Tracy and Smith. Moon Maid soon revealed that her love for Junior was genuine. She doesed her family's food with a sedative and freed the captive earthmen. The four escaped back to Earth, with Diet Smith leaving a letter of goodwill for the Governor. Upon her return to Earth, Moon Maid embarked on a tour of American universities, where she delighted crowds with demonstrations of her amazing abilities. Junior assisted at many of these evenst as the two continued to grow closer. Soon, the Moon Governor arrived, telepathically communicating with his daughter. He repented his previous actions, and brought gifts to the people of earth including precious stones, several air cars, and other moon-based technology. Junior and Moon Maid were married on Earth soon thereafter (October, 1964). In early 1965, Moon Maid took a job as a gag writer for the popular comic strip "Sawdust". She also engaged in some vigilante acts, using her superhuman abilities to stop petty crimes. This made her the target of criminals' revenge schemes on more than one occasion. In 1965 Moon Maid and Junior's first child was born in outer space. Named Honey Moon, she was nearly kidnapped by the sinister criminal Mr. Bribery, but his plan was thwarted. Moon Maid and Junior enjoyed a relatively peaceful domestic life. Later, the dying mobster Big Boy issued an Open Contract on Dick Tracy as his last attempt at revenge. Many small-time killers and gunmen were tempted by this offer and Tracy was nearly killed twice within a 48-hour period. After Tracy was put under police protection, he and Tess were invited to Junior and Moon Maid's house for dinner. Junior proudly described his wife to his parents as "beautiful and a good cook" to which Tracy replied "can't beat THAT combination". Unbeknownst to the family, an explosives specialist named Little Littel planted a bomb in Tracy's car. Tess just gave Moon Maid the keys to the car so Moon Maid could run an errand. When Moon Maid turned the ignition, the vehicle exploded and she was killed. Junior and his family were grief-stricken, and received letters of condolence from all over the world. Junior even received a call from then-President Jimmy Carter offering his sympathy. Moon Maid's funeral was attended by the Plentys, the Tracys (excluding Bonny), and the entire Major Crimes Squad, who had all been her friends. A few months later Bonny expressed regret about not making it back home for Moon Maid's funeral. After her funeral, Junior angrily and openly told his parents that he was going back to work and that he was going to find Moon Maid's killer. Tracy worried about Junior's behavior. After Junior and Officer Rodriguez (who had been responsible for Tracy's safety and was wracked with guilt over Moon Maid's death) made a discovery linking Littel to the murder, Junior took his .38 gun and confronted the Littels with the intention of killing the bomber. Ultimately, Junior couldn't bring himself to pull the trigger and was knocked out by Lily Littel with dynamite, prematurely setting off the timer. Tracy and Sam Catchem arrived in time to rescue Junior before the bomb went off. Littel had stayed to try to defuse it but he was killed in the explosion, meeting the same fate as Moon Maid. Some time after Moon Maid's death, Junior fell in love with Sparkle Plenty. Junior was hesitant to become romantically involved with another woman after Moon Maid, believing that he was bad luck. Junior was able to oversome his apprehension and he married Sparkle, who went on to adopt Honeymoon and treat her as her own daughter. In 2012, a mysterious woman was sighted in the City who physically resembles Moon Maid and who seems to have many of her same abilities. Whether this is an imposter, a relative, or somehow the original Moon Maid reborn remains to be seen. This new "Moon Maid" was seen at visiting Mysta's grave site at Wildwood Cemetary, which she vandalized with a sledge hammer. Appearances in Other Media Archie's TV Funnies Moon Maid was a character in the "Dick Tracy" segments of the 1971 animated television series "Archie's TV Funnies", produced by Filmation Associates. Moon Maid's appearance closely resembled her depiction in the comic strip. She was portrayed as Junior's wife, and she sometimes helped with cases. Moon Maid rarely used her super-human abilities, though the cartoon did use many high-tech sci-fi elements from the Moon Period, including the Air Car. Trivia *In 1964 there was a nation-wide contest to find a "real-life" Moon Maid. It was sponsored by the strip's syndicate, and the final judging took place in Hollywood, CA. *After Chester Gould passed the strip over to Rick Fletcher and Max Allan Collins, the Moon Period was written out of the story and Moon Maid was referred to only as "Junior's wife". He real name "Mysta" was revealed when Junior visited her grave in 2012. Known Relatives: *Moon Governer (father) *First Lady of the Moon (mother) *Junior Tracy (husband) *Dick Tracy (father-in-law) *Tess Tracy (mother-in-law) *Bonnie Braids Tracy (sister-in-law) *Joe Tracy (brother-in-law; born after she died) *Honey Tracy (daughter) Category:Deceased